Williamstown, MA - The Williams College Ephs (14-9) came off an eight-game road stretch and entered a must-win game for NESCAC seeding against the Hamilton College Continentals (15-8). Hamilton played an impressive offensive game but Williams' rebounding and shooting proved overwhelming. Williams led the entire game and closed out a dominant fourth quarter, winning 66-54.
Mairi Smith kicked off the fire with a smooth, gentle mid-ranger. In what could be their second-to-last home game, senior captains
Arianna Gerig and
Ellie Tounkara knew how important this game was. They, along with Smith, led the early charge for the Ephs, including a gorgeous euro-step from Tounkara in transition. After a Smith post move, Hamilton was forced into an early timeout, with Williams leading 8-3. The break saw both teams tighten up their defense and put trust in their bench until first years
Micah Walton and
Skylar Chui showcased their post-play with finishes coming off a post-spin and a reverse-layin, 12-4 Ephs. A buzzer-beater three for Hamilton would tarnish what was ultimately a dominant start for Williams, 14-9 before the first.
The second quarter was an offensive frenzy with the top two Williams scorers, Walton and Gerig, turning things up. But on the other end, the Eph interior defense allowed too many Hamilton drives with barely contested opportunities. The issue for Williams was that any open Continental threes were made, so even though they as the team struggled on defense, their offense more than made up for it. Williams was forced to either die by the three or by delayed coverage on the drives. With Hamilton fighting to take the lead, Tounkara and Smith handled the offensive load. Smith shot 5 for 8 in the first half with delicate finishes all around the floor, 27-21. In the final push of the quarter for both teams, Leuenberger connected on a three. The buzzer-beater luck was with the Ephs this time around with Gerig grabbing a backcourt steal and taking it in for the finish. Heading into halftime, Williams led 35-25.
Hamilton came out of halftime refocused and refreshed, looking to repair the gaps in their defense that the Ephs exploited. The rebounding lead was another prominent point in the first quarter with Williams having a noticeable size advantage but the boards were not coming as significantly in the third quarter. The Continentals also began playing a much more physical style of basketball and Williams was not getting the calls they thought they deserved. However, for the Ephs, senior sixth-woman
Cortland McBarron offered some valuable minutes with her finishing and active defense, 43-36. Another big bench player for Williams was
Sarah Pettegrove who provided a threat from deep but it was the last few minutes of the quarter that proved instrumental for Hamilton. They were given two practically uncontested drives along with Hamilton being in the bonus and picking up multiple fouls from the Ephs full-court trap. Williams held their lead but it was only a one-possession advantage, 44-41, with a season-deciding quarter coming up.
The fourth quarter started with much-needed baskets for Williams in the form of a Tounkara three and a deep corner two from Gerig, 51-43. In this fourth quarter, things for Williams were firing across the board. They went on an 11-2 run but it was their defense that was most impressive, every Continental play was gobbled up by Smith or in a turnover. Their players seemed gassed while Williams's offense looked like it was at a shoot-around, with either the ball going in or an offensive rebound. McBarron bounced a three in and Walton splashed one from the wing, 63-49. The cherry on top of this fourth-quarter execution was yet another jumper from Smith who stepped behind the line and made a three. Williams would bring home this much-needed win, 66-54, in a dominant fashion, hopefully, for any Eph fans, a good sign of what's to come.
On the team's needed win and well-executed fourth quarter, Eph head coach
Pat Manning said, "I think this is one of the best games
Mairi Smith ever played. A double-double and hit a three like that. We had four in double figures and we rebounded really well. Every time they went on a run, we responded. This was a real team win. It was different people stepping up and whenever we have four people in double figures that's what we are looking for. Cortland was also very big for us off the bench with 14 points and 9 boards… Last year when we played them, they out rebounded us 40-28 so this was a major point of emphasis for us."
The next game for Williams will be the biggest one of the regular season. They get a home court rematch against NESCAC rival Amherst College tomorrow, February 15th at 3 pm, with senior day and their season hanging in the balance.
